News & Features Archive

Monday, March 18, 2013

The FBI says it has solved the decades-old mystery of who stole $500 million in artwork from Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, but it is withholding the identities of the thieves, adding another twist to the largest property heist in U.S. history.
(03/18/2013)

The Minnesota Senate has passed a health exchange bill on a party-line vote; 39 Democrats voted for the bill and 28 Republicans voted against. Following Gov. Mark Dayton's signature of the bill, Minnesota will become one of at least 17 states that develop and run their own exchanges.

Minnesota lawmakers are considering beefing up the state's anti-bullying law, and for the most part, school administrators applaud the effort. But as with so many pieces of legislation, there's concern over the cost.

Since abandoning her 2012 presidential campaign and almost losing her congressional re-election campaign last year, Bachmann has shrunk her national profile and made a point of promoting her efforts to address concerns close to home.

Kerri's book Pick of the Week is Owen Laukkanen's "Criminal Enterprise," the second book featuring FBI agent Carla Windermere and Minnesota state investigator Kirk Stevens. The frenzied action all takes place in Minneapolis and St. Paul.

The Minnesota Gambling Control board gave the green light to electronic bingo in Minnesota Monday, adding to the expanded charitable gambling that has been slated to pay for the state's share of the $1 billion Vikings stadium.

Today on the MPR News Update, a late-season snow storm slows down the commute across the region, legislative leaders get ready to release their spending targets for the next two years, the state Senate votes on Minnesota's proposed health care exchange, and more.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced her support for same-sex marriage Monday, putting her in line with other potential Democratic presidential candidates on a social issue that is rapidly gaining public approval.

St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman has not officially announced whether he will run for re-election this year, but he is widely expected to seek a third term. At the moment, the DFL incumbent appears to be a shoo-in in this one-party town, in spite of a record that includes substantial tax increases and weak job growth.

A Minnesota woman at the center of a long-running court fight over the unauthorized downloading of copyrighted music said there's still no way she can pay record companies the $222,000 judgment she owes after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear her appeal Monday.

If you're a Minnesota college student and you take an online course from an out-of-state entity, should you get credit for it? As massive open online courses become more popular, it's a question policymakers are trying to answer.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation closed three major highways, including Interstate 94 from Moorhead to Alexandria, Hwy. 10 from Moorhead to Audubon and Hwy. 210 from Breckenridge to Fergus Falls.

Our next weathermaker is lashing Minnesota with another blast of wintry weather on this Monday. Trends continue to support the notion of a heavy snowburst Monday morning, followed by increasing winds Monday afternoon and evening. And did we mention eight of the last 10 Monday commutes have featured snow?

As the new year dawned, Pete Linnerooth, Bronze Star recipient, admired Army captain, devoted father, turned his gun on himself. He was 42. A former Minnesota State psychology instructor, Linnerooth was, as one buddy says, the guy who could help everybody -- everybody but himself.

St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman has not yet announced whether will seek re-election yet. So far he doesn't even have a challenger. The only other candidate has dropped out. In the seven years since Coleman took office St. Paul has experienced higher property taxes, benefited from modestly lower crime, and spent public money to re-invest in the city's downtown.